


Sidney & Geno: A Catfish Story

by SkeletonGirl89



Series: Catfish: The NHL Version [1]
Category: Catfish: The TV Show, Hockey RPF
Genre: Geno doesn't play for the Penguins, M/M, Sid and Geno meet online, alex plays matchmaker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-10-28 21:44:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10840047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkeletonGirl89/pseuds/SkeletonGirl89
Summary: Sidney claims he's met the man of his dream but there's only one problem; he may be a catfish. So Sidney sends an email to the people at Catfish the TV Show in hopes of finding out if the man behind the phone screen is really who he says he is.





	1. Dear Nev and Max

"Click on this one," Max said

Subject: Can my Russian hockey dream guy be a fake?

Dear Nev and Max,

My name is Sidney and I'm 29 years old. I play professional hockey and have just recently won my first Stanley Cup last year. A few years after I was drafted I met this amazing guy on Twitter after my friends were constantly badgering to get some type of social media account. The guy I met's name is Evgeni but he prefers that I call him Geno. We both play hockey, hockey was always going to be my first love until I met Geno. We met when his friend Alex commented on one of my pictures and I saw his reply so I messaged him and we've been talking ever since. I've known Geno for the last three years of my life, he has been my constant through every injury and away game. When I felt like I had no family to turn to I always had him. There's just one problem, Geno and I don't even live in the same state let alone the same continent. He lives in a small town in Russia and I have never met him in person but every day I talk to him I fall more and more in love. I've even considered outing myself not to just my team but the whole NHL league.

Please skype me as soon as you can,

Sidney

"Let's call Sidney," Nev said pulling up Skype on the computer.

It was ringing until they saw a guy with dark brown hair and brown eyes pop up on the screen.

"Sidney?" Max asked.

"Hey, guys." He said back.

"Wow when we read your email we had no idea it was the Sidney Crosby," Nev said before Sidney let out a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, that why it was so important for me to do this you know. Not only for myself but also because of the league." Sidney said.

"So, why don't you tell us a little bit about Geno?" Max asked.

"Geno is such an amazing person. We started off as friends and the more we talked the more I began to realize just how much he meant to me. I can be myself around him, I could talk about work and just let it all kind of slip away with him. He understood and was a support system for me when I really needed him. What really drew me to him was that we both have a passion for hockey and being able to share something that has been such a big part of my life is important to me. But I just have never had the chance to meet him in real life." Sidney answered.

"Don't you think it's a little strange that you've never video chatted with him?"

"Yeah it is, I definitely have things like my career to think about so... I've been talking to him for a long time. It's finally time to meet him."

"Get ready for a lot of had work Sidney."

"Oh trust me whatever you guys throw at me I can handle."

"We'll see you in Pittsburgh Sidney," Nev said after he waved and they both logged off.

Nev turned to Max and said, "This guy obviously has a lot to lose. He's putting his whole career on the line for some person he met online."

"It's crazy how these things happen," Max replied.

"We'll see what happens along the way," Nev said back before they started to pack things up to get out on the first flight to Pittsburgh.

While they were on the plane Nev and Max were looking at Nev's phone to check out Sidney's Twitter.

"Just by looking at Sidney's Twitter, there's not a lot to go by," Nev said as they scrolled through the very few tweets he did have.

"It must mean he really likes his privacy," Max replied.

*Next Day*

"So where are we meeting him?" Max asked.

"We are meeting him at the Penguins practice rink," Nev said.

"I hope he doesn't make us go on the ice," Max said getting his camera ready.

"He probably won't," Nev replied

They pulled up to the rink, "So this is where the pros go to work huh?"

"We have never done an episode of Catfish quite like this before," Nev said.

"I have a feeling that's not the only time you'll say that in the next few days," Max said back to him getting out of the car.

They walked into the room hearing the loud sound of hockey pucks hitting the plexiglass.

"Wow that must really hurt," Max said at how loud the sound was.

Someone walked up to them and asked, "You guys are from Catfish right?"

Everyone including the crew nodded before the guy said: "Follow me."

They walked into the locker room to see Sidney and two other guys sitting next to him on both sides.

"Guys give me a minute," Sidney said before they both patted Sidney on the back and walked out of the room.

"Hey Sidney," Max said.

"Hey guys," Sidney said walking up to them to shake their hands.

"So we saw some of the other guys out there, this is what you do huh?"

"Yeah, we have bye week starting tomorrow so one last practice before everyone on the team gets a break for while," Sidney said

"So you're all ours for the next week."

"Yeah basically."

"Okay, so what is it that makes you think he's not who he says he is?"

"Well, we never Facetime because of the 9 hours time difference. The only pictures I've seen of his are also on his Twitter or the Instagram page he has that I've seen on the internet."

"Can you pull up his Instagram and Twitter?" Max asked handing Sidney the laptop.

Sidney went on Instagram first and typed in e.malkin71geno and it took a few seconds to load.

"Wow this guy has a lot of followers," Nev said.

"Wait a second he has almost 430 thousand followers. Russian's must really take their hockey seriously." Sidney chuckled at the comment.

"You have no idea." he said back.

"Can you type in his Twitter?" Nev said before opening a new tab.

Sidney typed it in to see he had an even bigger number of followers.

They scrolled through a few tweet to see everything was written in Russian.

Nev clicked on a few pictures of him, "He is one good looking guy."

Max looked directly at Sidney after to see him slightly blushing.

"You said you met Geno over twitter right?" Max asked

"Yeah we have a mutual friend, Alex. We started massaging not long after Alex and I met."

"Alex as in..." Nev trailed off

"Alex Ovechkin," Sidney answered

"Do you think it could be Alex?" Max asked

"No, Alex is married and I've seen pictures of him and Geno together on his Instagram," Sidney answered

"By any chance, do you have any text messages we can read?" Nev asked

"Yeah sure," Sidney said unlocking his phone and giving it to Nev for him and Max to look at.

"Are these last few from just today?"

"Yeah."

"I miss you my love, can't wait to meet in person soon." Max read off the screen.

"So he does want to meet?" Nev asked Sidney before nodding.

"I miss you too, I love you. We'll talk after practice. Have a good night and text me in the morning." Max continued to read.

"There's more stuff but I can't tell what it says," Nev said looking.

"Wait is that what I think it is? Is that a dick pick? You didn't send it." Max asked scrolling back up before looking at Sidney.

"Yeah."

"Wha's all the other stuff. In the strange letters?"

"It's in Russian. Geno's trying to teach me some for when we talk on the phone."

"Can you read us any of it, you don't have to translate."

"Yeah sure. Я так тебя люблю, я не могу дождаться того дня, когда смогу наконец обнять тебя." 

"Some deep stuff right there."

"Yeah."

"Alright well, we'll leave you to do what you got to do while we do our research. We'll text you back as soon as we can," Max said before Sidney walked them and the camera crew out of the locker room.

"We'll call you once we find something," Nev said before Sidney nodded and turned around to head onto the ice.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations Russian to English  
> Я так тебя люблю, я не могу дождаться того дня, когда смогу наконец обнять тебя. - I love you so much, I can't wait for the day I can finally hold you in my arms.


	2. Research and a Strange Russian Answering The Phone

"Alright time to get down to business," Max said

"So we know that Sidney apparently met this amazing guy online and they've been talking for the last few years. Right?" Nev said

"Yeah."

"Sidney sent us another email. Nev here is everything I have on Geno, his phone number, some of the pictures I have and both of his social media accounts that I know. Please call me when you find something out."

"Alright, are we going for the pictures first?"

"Yeah, let's just drop them in here...and nothing."

"What about that one?" Max said

"Let's see, wait... We got a hit!" Nev yelled

"Isn't this his Instagram page? Can you open his Instagram again?" Max asked

Nev typed in the user name and kept going through all of the pictures until he saw it.

"Its right there," Nev replied

"What about his Twitter?" Max asked

Nev went to a new tab and opened twitter before typing in the username.

"Who is that, the last person who committed on that photo, ovi8." Nev clicked on the user name for a different Twitter profile to pop up.

"It says, Alex Ovechkin. Should we message him?"

"I think we should. Hey, Alex, this is Nev from the TV Show Catfish, we are doing an episode right now involving your friend Evgeni. Please massage me back as soon as you can. And sent." Nev said typing away on the computer.

"Do you want to run the phone number just to be sure?"

"Yeah sure, it's +7 (371) *** - ****."

"Who does that say?" Max asked

"Evgeni Malkin, from Magnitogorsk, Russia. He's 30 years old." Nev read

"Wow okay, so it him."

"I think this is one of those time Max. Everything points to it being who he says he says he is."

"Should we go over to Sidney's and tell him the good news?"

 "Yeah I think we should," Nev said.

They called Sidney and told him they were on their way to his house when Nev's phone started to ring.

"Max, can you answer that?" Nev said trying to pull over.

"Hello?" Max asked into the phone.

"Yes, is this Nev from Catfish?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"It Sasha, Alex."

"Oh Alex. hi, yes were calling about your friend Evgeni because he met this guy named Sidney online."

"Yes Sid, I know him, Zhenya talk about Sid all the time," Alex answered

"Yes, well we were wondering if you could possibly give us Evgeni's phone number?"

"Sure, it's +7 (371) *** - ****."

"Alright thank you, Alex, we'll call you back if we need anything."

"Wow, same phone number," Max said.

"It looks like it really is this guy," Nev said with a huge smile on his face.

"Just more good things are happening," Max said before they turned the car back on and made their way back on the road to Sidney's house.


	3. Sidney's Reaction & Sleepless Nights

Nev and Max pulled up to Sidney's house and waited for the camera crew to follow them up the path to the front door. Nev went up and knocked on the door and waited until a young blonde girl opened up the door.

"Hi, is Sidney home?" Nev asked before the girl opened up the door.

"Yeah, he's upstairs. Sid, the people from Catfish are here." She said before everyone started to hear the sound of footsteps. The camera crew had everything pointed towards the stairs as Sidney came down in his Penguins hockey shirt and track pants.

"There he is, the man of the hour," Max said

Sidney came down to introduce everyone. "Guys this is my sister Taylor."

"Hi, Nev," Nev said shaking the younger Crosby's hand.

"I'm Max. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too."

"Are you happy for your brother?" Max asks

"Yeah, I'm just really happy he's doing this. Every time I visit it's just Geno this Geno that. It's nice to have my brother so happy but I want to meet the guy you know."

"I can tell," Nev said

"Will you be joining us on our adventure?" Max asked

"I am not, I am going back to school later today, Sidney's driving me to the airport in the evening and I'll be home by tomorrow morning."

"Well how about we talk to your brother and then we can take it from there," Nev said.

"Yeah sure. I still have some last minute things to pack." Taylor said before Sidney let the guys and the camera crew into the living room.

"So yesterday Max and I sat down and went through all of the stuff you gave us," Nev said opening up the computer to walk Sidney through everything they had found out.

"We got in touch with his friend Alex on the way over here which was a really nice surprise. We also went through his Instagram and Twitter and basically got nothing besides what you already know. And then we put in his phone number. It came back as Evgeni Malkin, he's 30 lives in Russia just like you said. When Alex called us we asked him for Geno's phone number and he gave us the same one that you have." Nev said.

"So what does that mean?" Sidney asked

"What it means is... that we can get on a plane tomorrow and fly out to Russia and try to meet this guy," Nev said

"I want to do this... I'm tired of waiting. It's time to meet the man of my dreams." Sidney said

Nev and Max let out a chuckle.

"Alright, we'll call you when we're on our way over here tomorrow morning. Pack a bag because we are going to Russia."

The next morning Nev and Max went to Sidney's house to pick him up so they could all go the airport. Sidney came out in a thick jacket with a backpack and one thing of luggage.

"You ready to go?" Max asked

Sidney just smiled nervously and nodded before getting into the car. When they made their way the airport they checked their boarding passes and the tickets.

"Our first episode of Catfish out of the U.S. We are going international!" Nev said with so much excitement.

"Are you nervous about seeing Geno in a few days?" Max asked as he looked at Sidney sitting at the window seat looking down at his phone.

"Yeah, I just texted him though. I'm going to you baby. I'll see you soon. я люблю тебя." Max zoomed in on the camera to get the text in the shot and it's reply as well.

"What does it say?" Max asked before Sidney showed the camera his phone to see. 'я люблю тебя. Увидимся, когда доедете до Магнитогорска. Спокойной ночи, любовь моя.'

"It says I love you, I'll see you when you get here, goodnight my love," Sidney says as Max caches Sidney's wide smile looking at his phone.

"Only a few more house and then he's all yours," Nev says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation Russian to English  
> я люблю тебя. - I love you  
> я люблю тебя. Увидимся, когда доедете до Магнитогорска. Спокойной ночи, любовь моя. - I love you. I'll see you when you get to Magnitogorsk. Good night my Love.


	4. Tonight, I'm in Love (In Russia)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go!!

It had been a long 20-hour flight and they had finally landed in Magnitogorsk around 2 am the next day. They all got off the plane and got into separate cars before going to a hotel to get as much sleep as they can.

The next morning Nev and Max want to Sidney's room and knocked on his door.

"Hey man, it's the big day. You ready?" Max asked.

"Honestly no, but I love him so..." Sidney said trying to take it all in.

"It's now or never," Max said.

Sidney nodded before going to get his phone quickly to text Geno. He quickly sent Geno a text saying, "Я здесь, детка. Я скоро буду у вас дома." in his probably horribly spelt Russian.

Geno sent back quickly, "Скоро увидимся, любовь моя."

Nev was driving not really knowing where he was going but following the navigation that gave them directions.

They finally pulled into a driveway and parked close to the car in front of them. Sidney got out first and then Nev and Max followed. They walked towards the front door and Nev gestured for Sidney to ring the doorbell or knock. Sidney took one deep breath before knocking on the door. He stepped away standing next to Nev, "I know it's scary." Nev said in an attempt to comfort him.

They heard the door unlock and Sidney looked away closing his eyes before he heard the door open and opened his eyes at the sound. He looked in front of him to see a 6'3 guy with dark brown curly hair in a red CCCP jacket, who looked exactly like he did in the pictures.

"Geno," Sidney said before practically throwing himself in Geno's arms.

"Sid..." Geno let out with a slight sob.

Sidney pulled away from Geno just slightly and then reached up to kiss him. Geno lent down to meet him and held Sidney's hand as he pulled him in closer.

Geno was the one to pull away and then rested his forehead against Sidney's before looking over to where everyone was standing and inviting them inside.

A few minutes later Geno invited everyone inside and they sat in the living room. Sidney sat closest to Geno and held his hand while Nev and Max asked Geno questions.

"Why don't you tell us how this all started for you?" Nev asked Geno.

"Few years ago, I on Twitter and see Sasha comment on Sid's photo and think he so handsome. I message and we start talking for while. I tell Sasha how I feel, he say go for it, I think I shouldn't because Sid big hockey star and don't want to mess up chance." Geno got out nervously.

"Did you ever think about wanting to meet Sidney just the two of you?" Max asked

"Yes, try one time when I visit Sasha during winter. Try to tell Sid day he have game that I can come meet but not work out because Mama get sick and I no go to game." Geno explained.

"Where do you hope that this relationship goes in the future?" Nev asks.

Geno looks at Sidney and pulls his hand up to kiss the back of it. "Up to Sid." He mumbles.

"I want this Geno, I want you and I know this is your home. Russia means the world to you-"

"You mean world to me," Geno says interrupting Sidney.

Max and Nev share a knowing look.

"Then I guess doing what we're doing. I'll come visit you when I can, maybe spend my summers here with you or you can come to Pittsburg with me." Sidney said

"Actually have surprise for Sid," Geno said before kissing Sidney on the cheek and disappearing upstairs.

Geno came back holding an orange folder with a thick stack of papers sticking out of it. Geno gave it to Sid to look over.

"Is this... Geno this is a contract, to come play in the NHL. In Pittsburg." Sid says before he looks to see Geno nodding his head and smiling.

"I keep secret until today. Mario call agent last week and send contract, I sign just before you get here. Going to tell you but you here instead." Sidney just smiles up at him before leaning up and kissing Geno on the lips.

"How we tell team?" Geno asks. 

"Don't worry about it," Sidney says

*A Few hours later*

The camera crew was standing outside of the hotel as Nev and Max walked to the waiting car to head to the airport.

"Another success story," Max said

"One down, who knows how many to go," Nev said

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations Russian to English
> 
> Я здесь, детка. Я скоро буду у вас дома. - I'm here, baby. I'll be at your house soon.  
> Скоро увидимся, любовь моя. - I'll see you soon, my love.


	5. A Skype Call and A Wedding Invitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweet but short ending!

A few months later and it was mid-May, Nev and Max were once again sitting in some hotel room in a different part of the U.S. They were calling Sidney to check up on him and Geno. The computer was ringing. Until it pops up to Sidney's bright face once more.

"Hey, guys how are you?" He asked sounding overly happy.

"Pretty good man, how are you. How are things with Geno?" Max asked

"Amazing actually, Babe!" Sidney yelled before Geno came into view with a slight case of bed head.

"Hey, Geno," Nev said as he waved over skype.

Geno waved back before Sidney asked, "Did you guys get the letter we sent you?"

Nev and Max shared a look before the producer handed them an envelope. They opened it to see it say, "You have been invited to the wedding of..."

"Wait a second you guys are getting married. How did we miss this?" Max said

Sidney laughed before Geno leaned back swinging his arm to rest on the back of Sidney's chair.

"Well after you left and Geno moved to Pittsburg. I told the team what was going on and Geno ended up moving in with me. Last month Geno proposed and I came to realized that I have exactly what I have always wanted. So I said yes. And now we're getting married. I think after three years apart but together I know that I don't want to be without him more than I have to." Sidney said looking from the computer to Geno constantly.

"Wow. That's amazing. Our first real Catfish wedding." Nev said

Sidney and Geno both chuckled along with Nev and Max.

"Yes, we very happy," Geno said reaching over to pull Sidney in closer.

"I guess we'll see you then," Max said before they waved goodbye and logged off skype.

"Our _first_ Celebrity Catfish wedding. How can we top that?" Nev asked

"One day, we'll find out," Max said with a smile.


End file.
